Retroist The Adventures of Brisco Country Jr Podcast
A show that attempted to reinvent the western, it was too beautiful to continue.
In the 1990s, I fell in love with the western genre because an amazing show premiered on FOX, The Adventures of Brisco Country Jr., starring Bruce Campbell. This show was expected to be a big hit and widely praised, but failed to find a home and sadly had only one season. Despite this, or maybe because of it, the show developed a cult following.
I start the show talking about the closest thing we had to the old west in New Jersey, Wild West City. It was a place where I could finally shine like the star that I was, but unfortunately my attempts at improv on the stagecoach did not go over well with the people trying to do their jobs and my creative urges were stifled. Which explain why I am a blogger podcaster and not a Hollywood superstar nowadays.
After I tell my story, I move onto the show itself. I explore the talented people both in front of and behind the camera, how the lead was cast, the writing came together and the shows stirring music. I also reference some interesting newspaper ads and articles I came across while researching the film’s impact and history. For those interested, I’ll be sharing those clippings over on my Patreon tomorrow.
This show was ahead of its time and attempted to reinvent the western. Unfortunately the world wasn’t ready for it and we only got the single season. Still at least we have that, and it holds up well even after all these years.
Listen and download The Adventures of Brisco County Jr Podcast
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Production Notes
This is the 329th episode of the Retroist Podcast and episode 4 of the new season. Thanks for sticking with me or trying out the show.
What a tv show. I can’t believe this is the first time I am covering something with Bruce Campbell in it. How long until I can do a Burn Notice Podcast?
I had two other stories about Bruce Campbell I intended to tell, but I will hold those for other episodes where I talk about Bruce’s work.
I was going to have metagirl in this episode, but I couldn’t get the subject to her in time. She is still ready to join the show and will show up this season.
The music from this show would show up from time to time on other shows and whenever it did I would jump up. I think I looked like that meme of DiCaprio from Once Upon In Hollywood pointing at the TV.
This show is a reminder of why retro TV can be great. More practical effects, and some genuinely heartfelt performances.
Bonus Clipping should be up on Patreon tomorrow.
Music on the show is, as always, by Peachy.
Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.
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Imagine my surprise when the theme music showed up on NBC's coverage of the Olympics.
The show was always doomed being relegated to Fridays. People forget that it was some sort of minor miracle that Fox realized that the X-Files was building enough pop culture traction to get moved to Sundays which is when it really entered mainstream success.